Book Beginnings on Fridays - The Followers by Rebecca Wait

Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader and as she says the idea of this meme is for you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name. There's a linky list on the website and you can use #BookBeginnings on Twitter.

 

This week my Book Beginning is The Followers by Rebecca Wait. I'm enjoying it a lot and also loved her first novel  The View On The Way Down

 

In the visitor centre, Judith bundled her satchel and coat into the locker. She added the keys from her pocket and the ham sandwich she'd felt too queasy to finish, wrapped by her grandmother in about nineteen layers of cling film. 'For the road,' Gran had said, as she always did.

 

 

Book Description:

 

 On the windswept moors of northern England, a small religious cult has cut itself off from society, believing they have found meaning in a purposeless world. Led by their prophet, Nathaniel, they eagerly await the end times. But when the prophet brings in Stephanie and her rebellious daughter Judith, the group’s delicate dynamic is disturbed. Judith is determined to escape, but her feelings are complicated by a growing friendship with another of the children, the naive and trusting Moses, who has never experienced the outside world.

Meanwhile, someone else is having doubts, unleashing a horrifying chain of events that will destroy the followers’ lives.

In the aftermath, the survivors struggle to adjust to the real world, haunted by the same questions: if you’ve been persuaded to surrender your individual will, are you still responsible for your actions? And is there any way back?

Mailbox Monday

 

 

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It was created by Marcia @ A Girl and Her Books but now has a permanent home here

 

This week I received The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lipton from Netgalley. It's due to be published by Little Brown on 2nd July.

Set in the extreme landscape of Alaska, THE QUALITY OF SILENCE follows the story of Yasmin and her deaf daughter Ruby. Yasmin arrives in Alaska to be told her husband, Matt, is dead, the victim of a catastrophic accident. Yasmin, unable to accept this as truth, sets out into the frozen winter landscape, taking Ruby with her in search of answers. But as a storm closes in, Yasmin realises that a very human danger may be keeping pace with them. And with no one else on the road to help, they must keep moving, alone and terrified, through an endless Alaskan night.

Book Beginnings on Fridays - A Robot In The Garden by Deborah Install

Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader and as she says the idea of this meme is for you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name. There's a linky list on the website and you can use #BookBeginnings on Twitter.

This week my book beginning is A Robot In The Garden by Deborah Install which I started reading today. Click on the picture of the book cover to find out more about the novel.

'There's a robot in the garden,' my wife informed me.

I heard her footsteps a few seconds later, then her head appeared round the bedroom door. I glanced up from the newspaper I was reading in bed to see that look of hers - the one that says 'you are a continual source of frustration to me'.

Take Me With You by Catherine Ryan Hyde

 

Science teacher and recovering alcoholic August is grieving for his teenage son who was killed in an accident a few years ago. He is travelling in his RV over the summer when it breaks down and local mechanic Wes takes a couple of days repairing it for him. During these days August spends a bit of time with the mechanic's two sons, twelve year old Seth and Henry who is seven. Wes has been in and out of jail and when the time comes for August to pay him and leave he has another proposition, look after Seth and Henry and take them with him on his trip while he has to got back to jail.

Sometimes you realise very quickly into a new book that you're going to like it. Take Me With You was one of these for me and I loved the characters, especially Henry. I felt it ran out of ideas and was repeating itself a little towards the end but don't let this put you off. It's an easy, heart warming read that will be a great book to enjoy over the coming summer months.

 

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

 

Thanks to Transworld Publishers and Netgalley for a copy in return for an honest review.

 

Publication date: 2nd July 2015

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It was created by Marcia @ A Girl and Her Books but now has a permanent home here

 

This week I received two ebooks from Netgalley. They are due to be published by Random House UK, Transworld Publishers in the next few months.   

 

 

The Truth According To Us by Annie Barrows: 

 

BY THE CO-AUTHOR OF THE BESTSELLING THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY.

 

There are small towns in America that never seem to change, places where time holds still, and where nothing has or will – ever - happen.

 

This is a lie.

 

Summer, 1938: the small town of Macedonia, West Virginia, is celebrating its 150th anniversary, to be commemorated with parades, picnics, and most importantly, a book recounting its history. Its reluctant author, the debutante Miss Layla Beck, recently disinherited by her father, arrives in town with one goal – to get out of it as quickly as possible.

Macedonia’s history seems simple enough - brief and uneventful. Then Layla meets the Romeyns: Jottie, Willa, Felix, Emmett, a family at once entertaining, eccentric, seductive, and inextricably bound up in Macedonia’s most well-kept historical secret – a secret yet to be told.

Annie Barrows’ THE TRUTH ACCORDING TO US will spirit you away into a town from a by-gone age, where customs and habits may be different, but where the hearts of its inhabitants, both dark and loving, remain recognisable to all.  

 

 

Take Me With You by Catherine Ryan Hyde:

 

Seth and his little brother Henry haven’t had the most stable of upbringings. Their father has been in and out of jail; their mother took off years ago and hasn't been seen since. Life is constantly uncertain - but a twist of fate could be just what they need.

 

August stopped drinking the day his son died. While on a journey that’s very close to his heart, a breakdown leaves him stranded in a small town and at the mercy of the local mechanic - Seth and Henry’s father.

 

But then August is presented with an offer he doesn't expect: take the two boys with him for the summer, and pay no charge for the repairs.

 

As the unlikely trio set out on their road trip, the most unlikely, unforgettable friendship begins to take shape.

 

 

 

Book Beginnings on Fridays - The Woods by Harlan Coben

Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader and as she says the idea of this meme is for you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name. There's a linky list on the website and you can use #BookBeginnings on Twitter.

 

This week my book beginning is The Woods by Harlan Coben.

 

I see my father with that shovel.

There are tears streaming down his face. An awful, guttural sob forces its way up from deep in his lungs and out through his lips.  

 

 

Book Description:

 

Paul Copeland's sister went missing twenty years ago. Now raising a daughter alone, Cope balances family life with a career as a prosecutor. But when a homicide victim is found with evidence linking him to Cope, the well-buried secrets of the past are threatening everything. Is this body one of the campers who disappeared with his sister? Could his sister be alive...? Confronting his past, Cope must decide what is better left hidden in the dark and what truths can be brought to light... 

Mailbox Monday

 

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It was created by Marcia @ A Girl and Her Books but now has a permanent home here

 

Only one for me this week, Day Four by Sarah Lotz which I received from the publisher. It is the follow up to The Three and is published by Hodder & Stoughton on 21st May.

Four days into a five day singles cruise on the Gulf of Mexico, the ageing ship Beautiful Dreamer stops dead in the water. With no electricity and no cellular signals, the passengers and crew have no way to call for help. But everyone is certain that rescue teams will come looking for them soon. All they have to do is wait.

That is, until the toilets stop working and the food begins to run out. When the body of a woman is discovered in her cabin the passengers start to panic. There's a murderer on board the Beautiful Dreamer... and maybe something worse.

 

 

Book Beginnings on Fridays - The Shore by Sara Taylor

Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader and as she says the idea of this meme is for you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name. There's a linky list on the website and you can use #BookBeginnings on Twitter.

 

My Book Beginning this week is The Shore by Sara Taylor:

 

When news of the murder breaks I'm in Matthew's, buying chicken necks so my little sister Renee and I can go crabbing. There isn't much in the way of food in the house, but we found a dollar and sixty-three cents in change, and decided free crabs would get us most food for that money. Usually we use bacon rinds for bait, but we've eaten those already.

 

  

Book Description

The Shore. A collection of small islands sticking out from the coast of Virginia into the Atlantic Ocean that has been home to generations of fierce and resilient women. Sanctuary to some but nightmare to others, it’s a place they’ve inhabited, fled, and returned to for hundreds of years. From a brave girl’s determination to protect her younger sister as methamphetamine ravages their family, to a lesson in summoning storm clouds to help end a drought, these women struggle against domestic violence, savage wilderness, and the corrosive effects of poverty and addiction to secure a sense of well-being for themselves and for those they love.

Their interconnecting stories form a deeply affecting legacy of two island families, illuminating the small miracles and miseries of a community of outsiders, and the bonds of blood and fate that connect them all.

Before The Fall by Juliet West

The story is set in London during the First World War. Hannah is a married mother of two, living with her sister and brother in law while her husband is away fighting for his country. She gets a job in a cafe where she meets, gradually gets to know and then falls in love with widower Daniel. 

I enjoy novels set during the First and Second World Wars, particularly when we find out how people coped in England during these difficult times.  Before The Fall certainly gets that across. This is described as a love story and I was half expecting a light hearted romance, thankfully this wasn't the case. It is based on a true story and is a tough, dark tale with an ending I never saw coming.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Book Beginnings on Fridays - Before The Fall by Juliet West

Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader and as she says the idea of this meme is for you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name. There's a linky list on the website and you can use #BookBeginnings on Twitter.

 

My book beginning this week is Before The Fall by Juliet West, a novel set in London during the first world war.

 

I am a motorman employed by the Metropolitan Railway Company. At 5:49 a.m. on 18 July 1918 I was running my train into Aldgate East Station when a man got up from a seat on the platform and jumped in front of my train.

 

 

 

Book Description

A great war.
A powerful love.
An impossible choice.

I think the war is everywhere: in the rain, in the river, in the grey air that we breathe. It is a current that runs through all of us. You can't escape the current; either you swim with it, or you go under.

1916. Across the channel, the Great War rages; in London's East End, with her husband away fighting, Hannah Loxwood struggles to hold everything together. But when Hannah takes a job in a café, she discovers a glimpse of freedom away from her needy young children, her spiteful sister and desperately ill father.

While the conflict drags on, Hannah battles with the overwhelming burden of 'duty'. She has sacrificed so much for a husband who left her behind, a husband who may never come home. Then, when she meets Daniel - thoughtful, intelligent, quietly captivating - Hannah finds herself faced with the most dangerous of temptations . . .

As the war grips tighter and bombs fall down upon the streets, the stakes for the couple grow ever higher. Soon Hannah and Daniel will realise just how precarious their happiness is, as their destiny rushes towards them . .